Feelings of infatuation and associated phenomena with respect to patients in psychotherapy

Abstract

Feelings of infatuation are something wonderful and turn one’s emotional life into a roller-coaster. However, if such feelings arise in the context of psychotherapy towards a patient, they can be dangerous. Freud already knew this. He coined the term of countertransference, which has developed over the last 100 years. Empirical studies on the topic of infatuation of therapists were performed many years ago. For this reason, this paper studies the prevalence of feelings of infatuation and associated phenomena towards patients and corresponding influences and explanation patterns among psychotherapists in Switzerland. The responses of the 409 respondents were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. The results show that feelings of infatuation and many associated phenomena towards patients occur relatively frequently and that the gender aspect plays an important role. In terms of the explanation pattern, we found in particular what the respondents understand under «feelings of infatuation» in the therapeutic setting, how these feelings of infatuation toward their clients manifested, and why these feelings can arise or be prevented. The results offer a wide basis for discussion and will hopefully induce reflection on a touchy and often taboo subject.